ARTICLES ABOUT TIFF BY DATE - PAGE 5

Paul Zemgulys knew going green would require some sacrifice. He just didn't realize how much. The Chicago resident signed up two summers ago for Nature First, an eco-friendly program that allowed Commonwealth Edison to switch off his air conditioner for short periods during the hottest days. ComEd billed the program as a way to reduce greenhouse gases while saving Zemgulys money. But on June 18 a ComEd contractor accidentally drilled a hole through the air conditioner's core while making some adjustments.

In the no-holds-barred election campaign in Cicero, former Town President Ramiro Gonzalez scored a minor victory when members of the town's election board, which includes President Larry Dominick, agreed recently to recuse themselves from a matter involving their nominating petitions. However, Dominick and other election board members have not recused themselves from ruling on objections filed against Gonzalez. Gonzalez, who lost to Dominick in a contentious election in 2005, is challenging the petitions of Dominick and other candidates in an attempt to remove them from the February ballot.

A simple typo led Meghan Eddy's aunt to write What's Your Problem? in February. At the time, a misspelling on a state-issued medical card threatened to cost Eddy, who has autism, a spot in a desperately needed workshop. The Problem Solver helped correct that error. But in the months that followed, another glitch surfaced. After the Feb. 20 article, Eddy's case file became lost in the bureaucratic shuffle, and about $10,800 in funding for her care was put in jeopardy. The problem arose after Eddy and her family moved to Naperville from Chicago in late February.

Demetri McCamey emerged from Illinois coach Bruce Weber's doghouse Thursday night to make his first start of the season and produce a blue-ribbon performance. The sophomore guard scored a game-high 23 points and had six assists to lead the Illini to a 69-63 victory over Vanderbilt in their first road outing of the season. Playing against a Southeastern Conference team that had a 20-game home winning streak, he made 9 of 18 shots, including 5 of 10 three-pointers. "The first two games me and coach bumped heads," McCamey said.

Note passing, name calling, playground scuffles and widespread gossip. Sound like the fifth grade? In this case, though, it's the latest installment in NASCAR's Chase for the championship. The tension between Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick had not abated Friday, a day after the two had to be separated during a heated exchange at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. "Be careful who you wanna pick a fight with," Harvick warned. "If you wanna pick a fight with the wrong person, sometimes it turns around and bites you, no matter how big and tough you think you are."

Looks like Tila Tequila's gal pal Courtenay Semel is in hot water. The star of E!'s "Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive" was cited for battery after allegedly striking a hotel guard in Las Vegas, people.com reports. She wasn't arrested, but she must pay a fine, according to the mag.

The historic Queen Anne-style Victorian at Chicago and Sleight Avenues near downtown Naperville has seen better days -- plastic sheeting is taped to the outside, its wraparound porch is sagging and an exterior staircase is crumbling. But when its owners suggested repairs are too expensive and that the sprawling, century-old home at 432 E. Chicago Ave. should be razed, they outraged neighbors, the home's previous owners and descendants of Adolf Hammerschmidt, a founder of Elmhurst-Chicago Stone Co. who built the house in 1894 as a retirement property.

In the latest chapter of the White Sox's roller-coaster season, tensions heightened Wednesday night en route to one of their biggest comeback victories of the year. Teammate Jose Contreras had to restrain Orlando Cabrera in the dugout after he charged Jermaine Dye during the celebration following Cabrera scoring the tying run in the eighth inning of the Sox's 7-6 victory over the Royals. Cabrera and Dye quickly settled their differences, but the emotions were quite peculiar for teammates of a club that rallied from a five-run deficit to win and expand their lead over Minnesota to 3 1/2 games in the American League Central.

David Beckham may be good for soccer in the U.S., but he seems to be a divider. First, the Spice Girls broke up after he married Posh Spice (score one for David as Yoko Ono?). Now he has come between two boys, 9 and 10, who have been fast friends for three years. Beckham handed one of the boys his jersey after a Galaxy match in Honolulu. After a failed attempt to share the jersey, both families have retained attorneys and lawsuits are being threatened, the Honolulu Advertiser reported.